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A Columbus special-needs preschool teacher accused of dragging a 4-year-old student across
concrete, leaving bloody scrapes on his back, will no longer be allowed to teach in Ohio.

The State Board of Education voted unanimously yesterday to permanently revoke the teaching
license of Sherry Orth, 49, who taught at Valley Forge Elementary, a school on the North Side.

Orth had worked for Columbus schools for about nine years, including at McGuffey Elementary,
before going to Valley Forge.

The incident, which occurred in 2009, involved a special-needs student who said that Orth had
dragged him across grass and a concrete sidewalk to get to the bus. His mother found scratches and
scrapes on his back and bottom.

Orth contended that the student refused to get on the bus and was lashing out at her. He
received the scratches as she tried to restrain him on the carpeted classroom floor, she said.

She said she didn't see the scratches until he got on the bus, so she told the bus driver to
have the boy's parents call her. She also told the driver that she would be writing an incident
report, which she did a few days later.

At a district disciplinary hearing that year, Orth said she did not report anything immediately
because she thought it wasn't "a big deal."

She also had attempted to persuade two co-workers to not say anything about her being outside
with the student near the concrete sidewalk.

Orth resigned from teaching in November 2009 but was assigned to a paid district warehouse job
until the end of the school year. She later rescinded her resignation to "prove her innocence," she
said.

The district reported Orth to the state for violating professional-conduct rules, and Columbus
police looked into the matter.

"The child was dragged outside on the concrete, based on the pictures and what his injuries
appeared to be," wrote detective Deanna Franks, who investigated the incident. "They did not appear
to be what I've seen of a carpet burn."

Orth requested a state hearing to submit her objections; there, she said that the child's
injuries were minor and that she had properly restrained the boy.

Orth's attorney, Sam Shamansky, said the state Board of Education's decision "is nothing short
of a travesty."

"She effectively received the equivalent of the death penalty for conduct that, at best, is
described as a misdemeanor," he said.

Shamansky said her options include an appeal to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.

Also yesterday, the state board decided to permanently revoke the license of:

• Anita L. Esquibel, who taught kindergarten at St. Michael Catholic School in Worthington.
Esquibel was convicted of theft and attempted money-laundering in Franklin County Municipal Court
in September for stealing more than $800,000 from a 95-year-old man. She was sentenced to more than
four years in prison.

• Scott A. Zollinger, who surrendered it as part of a 90-day jail sentence in February after
pleading guilty to reduced charges related to a sexual relationship he had with a student.

Zollinger, who taught math and coached girls basketball at Lancaster High School, had been
indicted on five counts of sexual battery. Those charges were dropped after he pleaded guilty to
two counts of attempted tampering with evidence in a plea agreement.